Los Angeles, Feb. 16 (Reuters): Actor Mel Gibson denied in an ABC television interview that either he or his controversial new film The Passion of the Christ is anti-Semitic as some critics have claimed in the heated run-up to its opening.

In an interview with Diane Sawyer for a special Monday night edition of Primetime, Gibson also defends the extreme violence in his film about the last 12 hours in the life of Christ, saying it was necessary to push the audience “over the edge” so that it could feel the enormity of Christ’s sacrifice.

The film, which will open on February 25, has stirred passions and controversy for months, with many critics speculating on Gibson’s motives for making it. He is a member of a traditionalist Catholic sect that opposes some recent Vatican reforms, including saying the mass in English.

With many Jewish leaders fearing the film will revive debate on whether the Jews were to blame for Christ’s death, Sawyer asked the Oscar-winning actor and director, “Who killed Christ?” Gibson replied, “The big answer is, we all did. I’ll be first in the culpability stakes here, you know.”

Asked if he was anti-Semitic, Gibson said, “No, of course not. And here’s the other thing. For me, it goes against the tenets of my faith, to be racist in any form. To be anti-Semitic is a sin. It’s been condemned by one Papal Council after another. There’s encyclicals on it, which is, you know — to be anti-Semitic is to be un-Christian, and I’m not.”

Gibson said the film is “very violent, and if you don’t like it, don’t go, you know? That’s it. If you want to leave halfway through, go ahead. You know, there’s nothing that says you have to stay there.”